Fulfillment & Storage Robots

Buying advice

Compare like with like before prices

At our last update in October 2026, a buyer could spend as little as about $28,000 on the AgileX Bunker 2.0 or as much as about $50,000 on the Exotec Skypod, and none needed a quote. Those figures are not like for like. Some makers here sell a storage system in which the robot is one part, alongside the grid or racking, bins, ports and control software. Others sell mobile robots priced per unit, with fleet software and chargers on top, and some sell a general mobile base that needs a top module before it can carry anything. Ask each maker for the cost of a complete working zone at your volume, then divide it by the order lines that zone handles. That figure lets you set a grid against a fleet.

Test designs against your own order history

A survey of e-commerce warehousing by Boysen, Weidinger and de Koster describes order profiles made of many time-critical orders, each with only a few lines and small quantities. Your profile will sit somewhere on that scale, and it decides which system pays. A review by Azadeh, de Koster and Roy found that many new robotic warehouse systems have hardly been studied in academic literature even as they spread in practice, which puts more weight on each maker's own simulation. Give every shortlisted maker the same order file, including your busiest day and a returns-heavy week, and compare the robots, staffed stations and replenishment labour each design needs.

Bring safety and fire engineers in early

Robots that share aisles with pickers fall under ANSI/RIA R15.08-1-2020, which sorts industrial mobile robots into types according to whether they carry attachments or a manipulator. Ask each maker which type its robot is and for the safety documentation that shows it. Storage grids raise different questions. Ask your insurer and fire engineer how sprinklers will reach into a dense grid, and whether the roof structure and water supply can take the change, before you sign anything. OSHA's warehousing guidance lists rack integrity, conveyor safety and aisle clearances among the hazards to control, and each of those shifts when robots arrive, so walk the new routes with your safety lead.

What to look for

• Goods-to-person or person-to-goods: which fits your order profile
• Throughput per hour at your SKU count and order mix
• Floor, ceiling-height and racking requirements before installation

Common questions

What is the difference between an AMR and cube storage?

Autonomous mobile robots move through your existing aisles. Cube storage systems replace shelving with a dense grid that robots work from above or within, trading flexibility for storage density.

Can fulfillment robots work alongside people?

Collaborative AMRs are designed to share aisles with pickers. Storage grids typically run in a dedicated zone with ports where people pick.

Sources and further reading

• Warehousing in the e-commerce era: a survey (European Journal of Operational Research) — Erasmus University Rotterdam (Research Portal).
  Peer-reviewed survey of how small, time-critical e-commerce orders push warehouses toward robots and picking stations.
• Robotized and automated warehouse systems: review and recent developments (Transportation Science) — Erasmus University Rotterdam (RePub).
  Peer-reviewed review of shuttle systems, compact storage and robotic mobile fulfilment, and their open research questions.
• Mobile Robot Standard R15.08-1-2020: What You Need to Know — Association for Advancing Automation (A3).
  Explains the US safety standard for industrial mobile robots and its Type A, B and C robot classes.